Marie's Premium Super Blue Cheese Dressing...

yes! another rad score at the grocery store! marie's dressing were all on sale and i picked the "premium super blue cheese" w/ 25% more blue cheese for about $2. i am sooo cheap about a seemingly arbitrary list of things. salad dressing might be among them. sometimes. 

anyway, this dressing is very good. it's ultra creamy and doesn't have the "bite" usually found in blue cheese dressings. i really like the "bite", but this works terrifically with just a great taste taking the product for a home run (notice the baseball in the background?). 

it's also titled "blue" cheese, instead of "bleu" cheese. 

americanized and comforting probably fit here. but what's wrong with that on occasion? this perfect for those of us who like creamy dressings but are too uppity to say we flat out like ranch. 

thanks marie!

*the additional 25% more blue cheese makes it, so don't buy the one with the normal amount of blue cheese.

Dusty’s Bistro’s Scheherazade...

Dusty’s Bistro’s Scheherazade - baby greens, hummus, eggplant caviar, tabbouleh, kalamata olives, garbanzo,

pine nuts, raisins & mint yogurt dressing...

Dusty’s is an inviting little place in Silverlake with a lot of nice lamps (lamps which you will probably be able to read more about sometime in the future on our upcoming A>A>A> Blog...)

Jazz Panther and I went there not so long ago and took up our charming server Scott on the Scheherazade.

This is a fairly incredible salad...actually more like a meal for tiny birds like us. Essentially the Scheherazade plays something like placing a host of Mediterranean favorites (already prepared well on their own) over fresh baby greens and pouring on an appropriate amount of their mint yogurt dressing, which is fortunately not so heavy on the mint.

This is a large salad, not to be trifled with, so if you ever happen to order it at Dusty’s, it might be advised to put some strategic planning into effect when considering what you may order to go with it.

Dusty’s is cozy and nice and this salad is terrific. We had already started messing up the Scheherazade before I had the op to take this photo, I zapped it. We’ll go back. Hope Scott’s there.

11 places not to get salad:

1. Office Depot (Any Location)
2. Subterranean Records (San Francisco, CA) 

3. National Hurricane Center (Miami, FL)

4. Taco Bell (Any Location)

5. Kleindorfer’s Hardware (Bloomington, IN)

6. Greenpoint Tavern (Brooklyn, NY)

7. Amazon.com

8. KCRW (Santa Monica, CA)

9. Belize

10. Johnson Level and Tool Manufacturing Company Inc. (Mequon, WI)
11. Ohio State University Main Library (Columbus, OH)

"jazz panther tofu salad"

To celebrate the house un-arresting of Aung San Suu Kyi, and to celebrate the fact that i eat this all the time, i give you j. shelley harrison’s “Jazz Panther Tofu Salad”.

Back in the day, in the quiet, mid-western, liberal stronghold that is Bloomington, Indiana, the Jazz Panther, j. shelley harrison operated a Burmese restaurant called “Burmese Jim’s”. involves a long story, but the point is that she maintains all the recipes from the now defunct eatery in her warm, capable brain.

As a result of our terrifyingly powerful love for one another, which allows us to live in the same domicile, i get to enjoy these dishes all the time!

This salad is one that evolved from one the Burmese Jim’s originals, so it’s pretty fresh on the menu here at the studio. It seems to combine the Burmese Jim’s Tofu Salad with romaine lettuce in a type of Thai Larb variation.

The inclusion of tamarind really sets things off with that type of tangy-ness, and the cilantro garnish works through as one works through the dish.

Eating this feels both exciting and healthy. Good work Jazz Panther!

Ingredients:

Romaine Lettuce

Bok Choy

Green Cabbage

Carrots

Sweet Bell Peppers

Fresh Garlic

Fried Tofu

Tamarind

Crushed Peanuts

Toi Phi (Fried Garlic)

Lime Juice

Lemon Juice

Sriracha Hot Sauce

Spanish Paprika

Cayenne Pepper

Salt

Sugar

Tomatoes (optional)

top/garnish with cilantro.

the cheap and the tasty: part 2

brianna's home-style chipotle cheddar dressing.

hold on...i messed up. this is not tasty at all. it is/was cheap. the jazz panther got it on sale for like a buck. i hope it was on clearance or close-out or something, becuz nobody should ever have to taste product. 

i mean, the title alone...chipotle cheddar...that doesn't even make for a decent sounding flavor for potato chips!

this is a mistake. for everyone involved.

the lowfat jewish vegetarian cookbook...

I was recently discussing food with a friend. At some point the conversation turned to the subject of jewish cuisine. We concurred that there is a unique blandness that generally defines jewish foods, and actually somehow works to it's benefit. 

Afterward, i recalled a recipe book i have in my collection, "The Lowfat Jewish Vegetarian Cookbook". It's an item that i've had for years, and only purchased for ridiculosity of the title (remember, i'm an absurdist) and the photos, which have this icky, discolored, grainy quality that make the food look less attractive than it normally would. 

So, I actually opened it and read a few recipes, which was a first, and wow... the unique blandness that we talked so positively about is completely lost here. this book took blandness to a whole new level with recipes such as the pineapple, avocado, and tangerine salad. 

I questioned the reason for even writing down a recipe like this on a scrap of paper, let alone putting it in print. I also asked myself why I wasn't writing cookbooks...i mean...

OK, the next post will contain serious salad (and salad dressing) content.

Shalom.

the cheap and the tasty: part 1

Safeway Select Tuscan Style Basil Herb Dressing.


CHEAPNESS?: Great when on sale...$1.79.

TASTINESS?: Yes. Who the hell knows what "Tuscan" means to Safeway, but they totally nailed the basil part. This is an oily, Americanized, bastardized Italian-esque type of deal. The flavor is good, but in no way subtle. You can taste it all...the oil, the basil, the "herb" (which I think also is an identifier for small pieces of parmesan and kalamata olive). This could easily makes it's way onto the dressing list at a decent restaurant. 

GOOD FOR YOU?: Hell No, but it's better off than the majority of it's Safeway Select brothers and sisters.

VERSATILE?: Yes, and that it one of the saving graces on this stuff. The thing is, this dressing packs enough "Italian" or dare I, "Tuscan"?, type taste, what with the huge blast of basil, that it can easily be incorporated as an ingredient outside of the salad bowl. Mix this stuff together with some real ingredients and throw together some kinda pasta salad-y type of thing, or incorporate into some anti-pastas. It has some much oil, that you can easily use it as an alternative to infused olive oil, and pour directly into the saute process. I replaced the olive oil and the majority of herbs i would normally use, and created a killer "Tuscan" style tomato sauce.